Almost Real Things hoping to expand accessibility of art through Austin Studio Tour, ART Bus

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The annual Austin Studio Tour is underway, with more than 700 artists showcasing and selling their work and connecting with the community across the city.

The event started in 2003 as a “grassroots effort to connect neighbors through art,” according to its website. It was created and grown by Big Medium, a local nonprofit that supported contemporary arts and artists in Texas until it shut down earlier this year. Almost Real Things, an Austin-based magazine and event series, took over operations of the Austin Studio Tour this year.

Natalie Earhart, co-founder of Almost Real Things, said the Austin Studio Tour is “the perfect showcase of what’s available right in your neighborhood and all these parts of the city.”

It’s a self-guided, free tour that spans more than 300 locations in Austin, Earhart said.

“It’s meant for everybody. Everybody’s welcome, it’s free,” she said. “We want free people that live in Austin to discover fun places to go and artists to support in the city. But we also want people to come from outside the city here and support what we’re doing and keep Austin weird and exciting and fun and the place to be.”

Almost Real Things, which is acronymed as ART, is an Austin-based arts organization that started in 2015 as a free magazine where artists could promote themselves. Since its creation, ART has grown and started doing events and managing studios and art galleries.

The organization has been participating in the Austin Studio Tour for the last eight years, and it was chosen as the tour’s main organizer when Big Medium dissolved.

Earhart said ART is all about, well, art. But more importantly, expanding the accessibility of art in Austin.

“One of our goals with Almost Real Things the past ten years has been to make it, one, easier for artists to be connected to opportunities that can help them grow their professional career and meet people,” Earhart said. “And then two, to help the wider community have access to artists easier, and art events easier, because there are always things going on in Austin, like whether it’s music, it’s visual art, it’s performance.”

Earhart said that while people know that Austin has a lot of creativity and art-based things to offer, people don’t always know about them and can’t find them. She also said that expanding the art collector base in Austin is a goal, too.

“You don’t have to go to Target and buy art. You can buy art from a very talented local artist very easily,” she said. “There are creative people all around, they’re selling at various price points too, you know, not every art piece is going to be thousands of dollars. You can buy things for $10, you can start collecting original art.”

“It’s about opening up that channel for people to access the creative community that’s surrounding them all the time,” Earhart said.

One of those open channels is the ART Bus Tour, which Almost Real Things added to the Austin Studio Tour a few years ago.

“We pick out 5 or 6 spots, for a route, and I tried to get a variation of locations,” Earhart said. “So maybe we’re going to a gallery and then a residence, and then a museum and a pop-up market, and you’re seeing different types of art. So we take people on a tour.”

The ART Bus Tour runs each day of the Austin Studio Tour from noon to 3 p.m., and Earhart acts as the tour guide.

“You just get to ride along with us and get some of the insider knowledge,” she said. “And you don’t have to think at all about where you’re going or where you’re parking. We have drinks on the bus. We have music playing. It’s just a really fun way to experience the Austin studio tour and also be around other people that are excited about supporting artists.”

Earhart said that even though the Austin Studio Tour is in November, it really lasts all year. The two weekends of the studio tour are an economic opportunity for hundreds of artists, but they also gain exposure.

A full list of Austin Studio Tour artists, art groups, and locations can be viewed online or in the tour’s official guidebook.

The city-wide celebration of art will be held Nov. 8-9, and 15-16 from noon to 6 p.m. daily. Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect across the two weekends:

• 723 featured Artists, Art Groups & Hosts
• 317 locations around Austin
• Free to attend
• All-ages welcome
• Art-making activities
• Live performances
• Museum tours
• New exhibitions
• Live art demonstrations
• Sensory-friendly exhibits

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